Beta-Galactosidase Assay & LacZ Vectors

The beta-galactosidase assay is commonly used as a reporter, to monitor transfection efficiency, and for promoter/enhancer studies. We offer two ways to detect LacZ gene activity: a colorimetric beta-galactosidase staining kit and a chemiluminescent beta-galactosidase assay.

Colorimetric assay: The Beta-Galactosidase Staining Kit is a complete system for colorimetric detection of beta-galactosidase expression in mammalian cells. In this kit, beta-galactosidase (the product of the LacZ gene) catalyzes the hydrolysis of X-gal to produce a blue color that is easily visualized. Simply fix, wash, and incubate your cells with the X-Gal Staining Mix. Then use a light microscope to look for the blue stain.

Chemiluminescent assay: The Luminescent Beta-Galactosidase Reporter System 3 (which includes vectors; see below) and Detection Kit II (reagents only) provide quantitative measurement of beta-gal activity using a chemiluminescent substrate. The chemiluminescent signal is stable over several hours and can be detected by a scintillation counter, tube and plate luminometers, or by x-ray film exposure.

LacZ Vectors

Beta-galactosidase is the product of the LacZ gene. We offer three beta-gal mammalian reporter vectors containing the LacZ gene. The vectors provide maximal flexibility in analyzing the effects of cis-regulatory elements on gene expression. They can also be used to normalize transfection efficiencies.

pBeta-Gal-Basic (sold separately as pLacZ-Basic) lacks eukaryotic promoter and enhancer sequences and can serve as a negative control or to clone promoters for characterization.

pBeta-Gal-Control (sold separately as pLacZ-Control) contains the SV40 promoter and enhancer sequences and can be used as a positive control or as a reference for comparing the activities of promoters and enhancers.

pCMV-LacZ is a constitutive mammalian reporter vector which expresses extremely high levels of beta-galactosidase from the human cytomegalovirus immediate early promoter (PCMV IE) and can be used as a reference or control plasmid. Beta-galactosidase activity can be detected with the Luminescent Beta-Gal Detection Kit II.

Complete Beta-Gal Reporter System

The Luminescent Beta-Galactosidase Reporter System 3 includes the chemiluminescent beta-galactosidase assay reagents plus the pBeta-Gal-Basic and pBeta-Gal-Control vectors.

Features

Complete system includes vectors plus the chemiluminescent beta-galactosidase assay

Applications

Reporter gene assays with the beta-galactosidase reporter

Monitoring transfection efficiencies & normalizing transfections

Promoter/enhancer studies

Additional Information

Please see the product's Certificate of Analysis for information about storage conditions, product components, and technical specifications. Please see the Kit Components List to determine kit components. Certificates of Analysis and Kit Components Lists are located under the Documents tab.